Originally Posted by
jloome
I am equally unimpressed.
His reputation in the US is weighty but he seems tactically inflexible, personnel inflexible, a little temperamental and judgmental despite his reputation for being cool about things.
That scene with Mavinga was unprofessional. Bottle it up, man, it’s during a game and you’re the manager. The dude obviously has had mental health issues for years. Mocking that because you’re irritated in the moment is a bit weak-willed.
There are times when his calm during pressers impresses me. He projects confidence. But he seems to be doing nothing to correct issues on the pitch.
I’m not saying the fullbacks move in the offseason was long-term wrong; maybe both guys are a terrible pain in the ass. But without a contingency, it was principle over survival.
Playing Nelson and Kosi Thompson day in and day out seems like principle, not survival. And if we can’t survive defensively in games we don’t give ourselves a chance to win. Neither is ready; I’m not sure Jayden ever will be, he makes so many quick, poor mistakes.
Equally, Kerr seems to have abundant physical skills, but he can’t read the game at this speed. It’s obvious watching how often he just freezes in place and sort of tries to figure out which way to step next that he’s just lost unless he has the ball at his feet.
Now, we’ve all discussed the fact that we know they’re not ready. It’s blooding them as backups, right?
But… what about the other guys at TFCII who frequently show better than this, like Franklin and Rothrock? They may be less physically gifted but mentally they’re miles above the three guys who start every game for us.
Is that some political machination where he’s been told he has to play the kids so they can get value out of them? Or is that just a stubborn self-belief that he can crush coal into diamonds, in short enough order to help our team?
Why, when he looked so good central early in the season, did we move Kosi Thompson to fullback? He’s clearly utterly out of his depth. Chung was out of his depth in terms of positioning and consistency but at least he could defend consistently.
Why, if they know Chris is having deep personal problems, is he starting ahead of McNaughton, who has actually shown reasonably well this year? (And given that Mavinga played most of his career before us at left back, why didn’t we consider moving him there as both a help to the team temporarily and a comfort to the player, who is clearly in no head space to play isolated centrally).
Why does Michael play every minute despite pretty mediocre output and defensive flaws caused by his speed? Why did we not land at least one competent veteran central midfielder in the offseason to shore up the spine?
Sure, he effectively got the shaft on Salcedo, but our defense has no organization, at all. People don’t seem to know how to communicate on the field, so they don’t move as a unit, exposing gaps and making it too easy to beat the trap.
I see the obvious benefits of his self-belief and patience, and his resume shows that at the right club, it works. So I’m not going to start throwing out invectives about him being a terrible coach.
But so far, this seems more like his flame-out at Chivas USA than any of the successes. That was also a young club in build mode and it didn’t work there, either.
The most glaring, concerning thing about BB right now is that I’m suspecting he is arrogant. I say that only because we’ve had a couple of games where we did things slightly differently out of necessity — such as playing Priso, who has true DM skills on closing quickly and the tackle, even if we’ve used him as an eight — and we’ve looked great.
The game against Montreal was an example. We played with Priso holding and it made an enormous difference to have one of the three midfielders always back. An enormous difference. He broke up transitions for 60 minutes.
But Ralph comes across as a strong personality. And I suspect he was seen by BB as arrogant which, perhaps ironically, he really doesn’t like. That he was our best midfielder for two of the three games in which he was effective didn’t seem to enter the equation.
Neither did the fact that when Michael was injured in 2020 and we played a central two of Delgado/Osorio… the team went right back to being Supporters Shield contenders. It made that much difference, having mobility centrally and a dedicated defender.
So… I dunno. I am unconvinced. I feel like we have a guy who does well with ONE kind of team, that he can motivate, and where they’re of a high enough skill level already that he doesn’t really need to worry as much tactically or across the depth of the roster.
It does not feel like the right recipe for fixing this.
Now, should he suddenly land Bernardeschi and a DP centre half, all bets are off. Take the kids off and put competent professionals on the field and we’d probably make the playoffs because… they’re competent professionals.
But any coach, anywhere could do that. Literally. Even a bad coach will win with a team full of the league’s best players, as long as they’re there to win.
What I want to know is why more isn’t being done now. Why we’re just trying to hammer the same round pegs into squares holes.
Sure some of the TFCII kids aren’t going to make it much beyond that. But some of them have potential, they’re just a couple of years older and havent’ had a shot yet. Or their talent isn’t recognized, a ala Jacen Russel-Rowe.
I simply don’t believe Kobe Franklin, who is only 19, wouldn’t be doing better than Thompson, and he’s earned his shot by being USL defender of the year finalist. Thompson isn’t even trained as a fullback, and it shows.
Equally, Kerr was playing college ball, and not dominating, just impressing. Again, it seems a narrative: prove we can turn TFC youth players into MLS diamonds.
Does anyone not think Russell-Rowe would’ve looked pretty good up top for us last night on that right side? We just let his rights go. THis season. With no players.
That screams of “certain attitudes aren’t welcome here.” Which… fine, I get it, nobody likes an arrogant young dick or a guy who exudes ‘tude. But that talent has to be respected; that’s both biology and reality.
Kerr was playing college ball last year and not dominating. How on God’s green Earth is that ready for MLS? Perhaps, in being around so long, BB has lost sight of the growth in the league. MLS is rated globally as the 16th most difficult professional football league, it’s not a kickabout league any more.
I’m not even sure what the guy’s best position is. The week earlier, although he was technically up top, he sat back in the midfield for most of the game and had his best game of the year, leading the team with a goal, an assist and three tackles. So… play him as a central midfielder, maybe? It’s the only spot he has excelled in, effectively.
So, I don’t feel confident. I feel like even if we get the parts to start winning, the formula for sustained success isn’t in this model. It doesn’t feel right.
